Gwen Stefani has always been one of my favorite celebrity moms. She has a killer voice, rocking style, and the day her kids' clothing line started showing up in Target ranks right up there on the short list of best days for mothers of little girls who fancy themselves fashionistas. But please, for the love of Mike, would she stop dyeing her kid's hair?
Every time I catch a glimpse of 5-year-old son Kingston in the news, he has a new 'do in a new hue. Awhile back it was a blue mohawk. This week it's bleach blond. Yikes! Doesn't Gwen know what that stuff can do to a kid?
Hair dyes can contain everything from coal tar, which has been linked to cancer, to parabens, which have been linked to endocrine system disruption. They fall on the list of "problem beauty products" that non-profit watchdog the Environmental Working Group suggest avoiding, especially with your kids.
As cute as little Kingston looks, that's enough to scare me out of letting that stuff anywhere near my kid's hair and thoroughly regret the number of things I did to my head as a teenager.
I'm not trying to be a grinch here. I'm all about creative expression with kids, and the way I see it, hair is one of the best parts of their body where a kid can show off their own style. In a few months time, a bad haircut has grown out. It's not permanent like a tattoo.
But our kids only get one chance at a healthy childhood. Holding off on the dye doesn't seem that hard to me.
If they have a colorful spirit like Gwen's kid, there are some safe alternatives for kids. Unlike Kingston's blond dye job, which you can see has begun to grow out, you have to accept that most won't last long. Although I look at it the way I do those wash-off tattoos: the inconvenience is a fair trade-off for safety.
Squeeze fresh lemon juice on their hair, and send them out in the sun (with a safe sunscreen on the skin, of course!). Try a clip-on of colored synthetic hair. I've also heard you can get non-toxic chunks of colored sidewalk chalk wet, then use it to coat a child's dry hair for "dye" that will last through until they shampoo.
When do you think kids are old enough to start having their hair dyed?
Image via Splash News